Apparatus for decorticating, washing, and drying sisal and other fibrous materials.



B. A. HUMPHHYS. APPARATUS FOR DECORTICATING, WASHING, AND DRYING SISAL, AND OTHER HBHOUS MATERIAL S.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9,1916

Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

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APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9' I916.

Patented Mar. 5,1918.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' ROBERT A. HUMPHRYS, 0F SEVENOAKS, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR DECOBTICATING, WASHING, AND DRYING SISAL MATERIALS.

Aiin OTHER FIBROUS Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

Application filed February 9, 1916. Serial No. 77,356.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT ARTHUR HUMPHRYS, a subject of His Majesty the King of England, residing at Sevenoaks, in the county of'Kent, Kingdom of England, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Apparatus for Decortlcatmg, Washing, and Drying Sisal and other F1 brous Materials, of which the following 1s a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for decorticating, wash n and drying sisal and other fibrous materia s.

In apparatus of this kind it has been proposed to pass the-material to be treated between fluted breaking or crushing rollers, through washing tanks, between squeezlng rollers and through a drying chamber heated by hot air. In difl'erent forms of apparatus similar to the above it has been proposed to provide a feed; table having a toothed roller extending across and above the delivery end of the same and adapted to regulate and render uniform the feed of the material to decorticating mechanism, to fit a feeding table with a feed regulating board along one longitudinal edge against which board the butt ends of the leaves are gaged; to provide a machine with two decorticating drums, means for transferring the material from one drum to the other and means to cause the material during its travel between the drums to-move laterally so that the portion of same which is not decorticated by the first drum is moved into position so that it is treated by the other drum; to provide two pairs of bands having scutching blades fitted thereon and means to transfer the material .from one pair to the other; and to provide a fan or blower to blow air through the material to assist in the drying of same.

According to the present invention a single self-contained apparatus is providedin Which the material is fed from a feed table to decorticating drums, is washed, is passed through a wringing device, is spread out by an air blast so that it lies fiat and straight ready for drying, and is finally passed Also according to the invention, the feed table is fitted with a gaging board, preferably adjustable, along one longitudinal edge thereof and with longitudinal rollers which project above the upper surface of said table and rotate in such a direction as to press the butt ends of the material against said board; a

plurality of pairs of decorticating drums may be provided; the wringing device preferably comprises opposed sets of rollers-carried on endless traveling chains, thespindles of which rollers are fitted with wheels adapted to run on spring-pressed guide members; the air blast is preferably supplied through a nozzle having tapered and slotted or per forated sides; and the material is carried through the drying chamber by being gripped between pairs of endless traveling ribbons, cables or bands which are made, for

instance, of perforated metal or metal,

gauze.

The invention is hereinafter described Figs. 8 and 9 are enlarged side elevation and detail blower.

The material or leaves 12 is or are first placed transversely on endless feed chains or bands 13 which travel underneath a feed table 1 1 provided with longitudinal slots 15 through which projections or fingers 16 on said chains or hands protrude about two inches above the surface of the table. The projections 16 are spaced at such a distance apart as is most suitable for the width of the material being treated, which distance plan views, respectively, of the may. conveniently be from four to six inches.

This arrangement facilitates regular feedmg, prezents the material falling through between the chains or hands 13 and also relieves the chains of the weight of the material and thus prolongs their life. The feed table 14 is also provided with a gaging board 17 along one edge, and with two longitudinal rollers 18 projecting slightly above the upper surface of the table and rotating in such a direction as to press the butt ends of the material or leaves against the above I eat er in the table.

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'The material next feeds from the chains or hands 13 to one vor more pairs of drums mounted to rotate in opposite directions and provided with scutching blades 21 which overlap slightly, and the material 12 is drawn up between the, or each pair of, drums by means of a rotatable grooved wheel on which runs an endless traveling grippingchain or rope 22 and is decorti cated by the scutching blades. 'llwo pairs of decorticating drums 23 and 24, and two grooved wheels 25 and 2b are preferably provided as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, one pair of drums to decorticate, each half of the portion of material or leaf, and, as the same passes from one grooved wheel 25, to the other 26, the grip thereon is so shifted as to insure that the whole length of the material or leaf is acted upon by the scutching blades 21. Water-is supplied between the drums by means of one or more pairs of nozzles 27, Figs. 4, 2 and 4, so that the fiber v is thoroughly washed as it passes through the machine and emerges ready for immediate drying and baling. lf extra thorough washing is required, water maybe led-to the interiors of the drums through hollow shafts, and be adapted to issue through perforations formed in the peripheries of the drums between the blades, in known or con venient mannerfi By the use of drums ro-- tating in opposite directions, both sides of the leaves are operated upon by the blades and a thorough cleaning of the fiber is insured. Moreover, less waste is produced as there is no violent wedging and crushing of the material or leaves as between the blades a and the concave. breast plate in a known type of machine which wedging and crushing tends to break and tear out fibers and also consumes more power. The drums are suitably geared or connected together to insure correct register or meshing of the blades thereon. As the material passes from, the table and is gripped near one of its. ends, such as at 28, between the gripping rope or chain 22 and the wheel 25, its mainportion is turned down vertically by means of a curvedguide 29. It is necessary to shift the material or leaves laterally While passing from one gripping wheel .25 to the other 26 as above mentioned. To efiect this, a rotatable wheel 30, guide pulleys 31 and an endless traveling rope 32 may be provided and set at an angle to the gripping chain 22 as shown in Fig. 2. The Wheel 30 and the rope 32 grip the undecorticated end 33 of the material or leaf as the latter passes from the first pair of drums 23 and draw the material or leaf laterally a suficient disand carried through a wringer which prefer- 5 ably consists of two opposed sets of rubber covered rollers 36 and 37 each tapered at one end and all carried on endless traveling chains 38 and 39. The ends of the roller spindles are fitted with a small wheel 40 30 adapted to run along guide members 41 behind which are fitted springs 42 to produce the necessary pressure of the rollers against the fiber passing between same and a centrally arranged fixed board 47. V This 5 process removes a large proportion of the water adhering to the fiber and so enables the drying to be more rapidly and economically efi ected.

I From thewringer the fiber is then passed to a drying chamber 43 wherein it is dried by means of hot air, and from which it issues in a fit state for immediate ballng. The fiber is carried through the dryer by being gripped between two or morepairs of as endless traveling ribbons, cables, or bands 44, formed for instance, of perforated metal or metal gauze, as it is essential that the fiber should be held flat and straight during the process of drying. As the fiber 10o leaves the wringer and approaches the drier it hangs from the conveyer ropes 34 and 35 and it is therefore necessary to raise or spread the ends thereof so as to enable it to enter between the bands 44 hat and straight.

This is efiected by means of an air blast. Thus the hanging ends of the fiber are caused by the conveyer ropes 34 and 35 to open out and move along the two partly tapered sides of a blower nozzle 45 which is arranged to discharge, through .side slots 45 or holes, a strong blast of airlaterally on each side of said conveyer ropes at right angles to the path of the same, 2'; 6., from the center outward, and the eifect of these blasts is to raise the. ends of the fiber and blow them out horizontally. Before pass ing beyond the influence of the blasts, the nozzle 45 being long and narrow, the fiber is gripped between the conveyer bands 44 of. the drier and held flat and straight. The lower bands 44 are preferably Carried out horizontally beyond the drier as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 to deliver the fiber ready for pacg. Y

One of the guide pulleys of the gripping rope or chain 22 is preferably slidably mounted in its bearings, its trunnions be-' guide pulleys or rollers of each of the ropes or the like 32, 34, 35 and 44, are preferably similarly mounted or spring controlled. These arrangements insure that the ropes or the like are kept taut and firmly grip the material 13 being treated. a

What I claim is 1. A single, self-contained apparatus for treating sisal and other fibrous materials, comprising a feed table, decorticating means, washing means, wringing means, means for applying an air blast for laying the fiber out fiat and straight ready for drying, and a drying chamber, all arranged in the order named and provided with interconnecting mechanism, whereby the travel 01" the fiber from one end to the other of the apparatus and the treatments to Which the fiber is subjected are automatic throughout.

2. An apparatus for treating sisal and other fibrous materials, including means for causing the material to travel through the apparatus, and means by which the material is spread out, said last-named means comprising a narrow air nozzle. elongated in the direction of travel of the material and having elongated passages through opposite sides, said passages being elongated in the direction of travel of the material, whereby the latter is spread out in a direction transverse to its line of travel.

3. In an apparatus for treating sisal and other fibrous materials, a feed table provided with a gaging board, and rotatable rollers mounted longitudinally beneath the table and projecting above the upper surface thereof.

4. In an apparatus for treating sisal and other fibrous materials a wringer comprising opposed endless series of rollers with endless chains carrying them, said rollers having spindles with wheels thereon, and spring-pressed guide members in the path of the adjacent runs of the wheels to cause said runs of the rollers to yieldingly approach.

5. In an apparatus for treating sisal and other fibrous materials, a drying chamber for the fibrous material, with pairs of endless traveling bands therein on opposite sides of the line of travel of the material, and means at the entering end of the drying chamber for spreading the fibrous material into position to be engaged in the spread condition by the pairs of endless traveling bands.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

R. A. HUMPHRYS. 

